Not Your Average Travel Stories (And Video): Week of March 10

This week:Have some pie, it’ll give you energy for the Battle of the Armrests. And, retro video!

LISTEN: FareCompare’s Alex Williams and Anne McDermott have a very good time slicing and dicing this week’s items.

Stories of the Week

Mmm – pie: Friday, March 14 is National Pi Day (you know, 3.14?). And, hey, the National Pie Championship gets underway soon but there’s plenty of time to get tickets to Orlando for the crusty festivities (April 25-27). One of the winners from last year: Smokin’ Hot Grilled Apple Pie. I am so there.

“My armrest.” “No, my armrest.” Have you ever had a territorial dispute with a seatmate over a shared armrest? Learn how the pros handle it but even they admit sometimes nothing works. Except, maybe, a smile.

Memorial Day is coming: Closer than you think. If you’re planning holiday travel in May, we have some ways to save you money.

SXSW vs. TSA: Swag bags given to patrons of this week’s South By Southwest fest allegedly require hand searches at the airport due to the density of all those free magazines. And they say print is dead.

Good passenger story (for a change): A US Airways flight from Tampa to Phoenix had to divert to Houston this week when a baby stopped breathing. Two passengers with medical training stepped forward to help while everyone else on the plane held their breath. Then the baby began to cry. As a passenger told a Phoenix news crew, “It was a teary moment for everyone.”

Super-short mini-skirts: Japan’s budget airline Skymark says that’s what their female flight attendants will wear but the women’s union is not thrilled, citing difficulty moving around which might inhibit the ability to carry out their jobs plus new age problems like up-skirt photos. Airline’s response: “It is disappointing.” Question: What will the men wear?

Barf bags:Business Insiderreports you can advertise on Spirit Airlines’ barf bags. Indeed you can as FareCompare’s devoted readers learned all nearly four years ago.

Honeymoon’s over: It seems these newly-weds were heading to Costa Rica from Atlanta when the groom reportedly got into a “drunken argument” with his new wife, so the Delta flight diverted and the guy was arrested. The bride, meanwhile, stayed on the plane. If the marriage lasts, what a nice little story for the grandkids.

Airport carpet: This is a ‘new thing’ – taking photos of airport carpet and Instagramming it. You know, #airport carpet. What are you waiting for?

Death is no excuse: Jim Terry says Allegiant is refusing to refund the tickets he and his wife bought for a trip to Orlando which he cannot use because his wife died. Allegiant reportedly said, All our tickets are non-refundable, you should have paid extra blah, blah. Gosh, where have we heard something like this before? [Looking at you, Spirit].

Back to the future: American says of its new video, “the legend is back” (see below) – it’s about cross-country flights but we like it for the lavish use of historical footage. They’re doing the same thing with print ads featuring Grace Kelly and Gregory Peck.

VIDEO: Note that in the good old days, even coach passengers get a “fine meal.”